Warhammer 40K: Check Out the 1980s Original CSM Black Legion Armylist
Abaddon’s Black Legion first assaulted our planet in 1988? Let’s take a look at their original army list from Rogue Trader over 30 years ago.
Today it is time to go back to the early days of the game. The chosen of the Warmaster, the Black Legion arrived in the Realm of Chaos – Slaves to Darkness from 1988.
The initial Black Legion army list came in Slaves to Darkness, alongside the first World Eaters, Emperor’s Children, and GREY KNIGHTS lists! We’ll cover those another time.
The initial list laid down the foundation for the bitter, and hardened Legionnaires we all know and love to this day. All the basics you would expect and few surprises that may return are here. Let’s dive in.
The List
Note the pre-Abaddon version of the Black Legion’s history, and their mastery over possession saving the legion (something that would be transposed onto the Word Bearers decades later) The distinguishing characteristic of the Black Legion was their HATRED of all fellow Traitor Legions, in addition to Loyalists. Abaddon’s Legion was Hardcore back in the day! Now note the crazy 900 point Daemon weapon you could equip your Lieutenant Commander and Captains with. Why 900 points? Because a Rogue Trader Daemon weapon oftentimes was possessed by a Greater Daemon, who would pop out and fight once its bearer was killed – SURPRISE!
Page two has the support characters and it is from here we eventually get Apothecaries, Dark Apostles, Sorcerers, and Warpsmiths. Again note the Librarian who could be BOTH a level 4 psyker AND wields a Daemon weapon! Watch out – that’s about as nasty as it got in Rogue Trader. Cool how the Medics have the web-solvent to get your guys out of sticky situations, and the Techmarines have the Frenzon controllers (we’ll get to that in a bit).
Page 3 has the daemon allies, and most importantly – The Official Black Legion Catechism! I think every diehard CSM player should say this before each game to give your dice good luck.
Page 4 has the core infantry and the auxiliaries. Back in the 80s you had the option of mounting Tactical squads on Chaos Steeds. Note the hard life of Beastmen Slave squads. They come equipped with explosive collars, Frenzon dispensers (see Techmarines above), and can be given power shields and power generators! Finally, Spawn to goad into combat. These Black Legion were ruthless!
Original Black Legion Minis
Now we get to the original metal CSM Renegades from way back in the day. There are little callouts to each of the chaos gods here and there in the early range. I always loved #2 with the Bloodletter head, and 022316 down below with the Flamer of Tzeentch body. Nice!
There is also some fantastic late 80s artwork in here. Take a look at this Paul Campbell classic:
Do you have any fond memories of the Rogue Trader Black Legion list or still have some of these minis? Let us know.
The Black Legion has come a long way in 35 years!
